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Fall 2017’s Most Buzzworthy Books

By Stacy Lambe‍ 8:54 AM PDT, September 27, 2017

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For those done with their beach reads, it’s time to turn to these new books that will be engaging companions as the leaves change color and the temperature cools. Like film, theater and TV, the new book season comes packed with debuts from the likes of You’ve Got Mail star Tom Hanks and Matt Weiner; the return of authors John Green and John le Carre; and a biting postmortem from Hillary Clinton.

The author of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events ditches the pen name for a coming-of-age tale about a teenage boy discovering his sexuality. Handler delivers on the title with a blunt, honest -- and very explicit -- take on a topic that’s somehow fallen out of modern storytelling.

A Legacy of Spies
by John le Carre
Now available

The undisputed master of spy thrillers -- now 85 years old -- is back with what could possibly be his last novel, A Legacy of Spies. The new book, a companion piece to The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, revisits the world of Peter Guillam, a loyal lieutenant of George Smiley, and his distant memories of the Cold War.

Bluebird, Bluebird
by Attica Locke
Now available

From a writer on FOX’s Empire comes a powerful new thriller about love, race and justice as seen through the eyes of Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger who investigates the murders of a black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman.

Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
Now available

Ng’s debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, was named Amazon’s Best Book of the Year (2014). Now she’s back with Little Fires Everywhere, a new family saga that promises to land her back on top of the heap.

What Happenedby Hillary Clinton
Now available

“What happened?” is a question that haunts many, but perhaps none more than Clinton, who examines her 2016 presidential campaign in this memoir. A postmortem on the end of her political career as an elected official, Clinton reflects on everything from political memes to those emails to what was really said behind closed doors.

The Origin of Others
by Toni Morrison
Now available

The celebrated American novelist examines the origins of race in America and how literature played an important role in how we see it today in a collection of her Harvard lectures. The book includes Morrison’s reflections on well-known American authors as well as a discussion of her most famous works.

Sleeping Beauties
by Stephen King and Owen King
Now available

Following his 2013 debut, Owen King joins forces with his dad, who continues to enjoy a zeitgeist moment in 2017, to imagine a not-so-distant future where all the women have succumbed to a sleeping disease, leaving what’s left of society to be run by men.

Manhattan Beach
by Jennifer Egan
Available 10/3

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit From the Goon Squad delivers a daring new historical novel about a woman who becomes the first female diver at the Brooklyn Naval Yard in New York and her transformative relationships with her father and a new man in her life.

Knopf / Little, Brown / Dutton Books / Little, Brown

Origin
by Dan Brown
Available 10/3

Robert Langdon, the Harvard professor and reliable protagonist of Dan Brown’s ongoing historical fiction series, is back in Origin, a new thriller about a discovery that could change the face of science forever.

Turtles All the Way Downby John Green
Available 10/10

In his first new novel since The Fault in Our Stars, John Green tells the story of two teenage girls, Aza and Daisy, who decide to investigate the mystery of a fugitive billionaire. Their amateur sleuthing will test the limits of their friendship, while Aza balances her pursuit with expectations of being a good daughter, good student and good friend.

Uncommon Typeby Tom Hanks
Available 10/17

Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks can add author to his list of credits with a debut collection of short stories that he somehow managed to write between press junkets and filming around the world. According to Steve Martin, “Tom Hanks is also a wise and hilarious writer with an endlessly surprising mind. Damn it.” So what else is there to say?

The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage
by Philip Pullman
Available 10/19

Philip Pullman (finally) returns to the world of Lyra Belacqua and His Dark Materials with the first in a new trilogy about the much-loved character and her daemon Pantalaimon. While the story is set 10 years before The Golden Compass, Book of Dust is not a prequel. It’s an “equel,” according to the author, who says “it’s a different story” that stands beside what happened in the other novels.

Unqualified
by Anna Faris
Available 10/24

Anna Faris has some advice -- well, a lot of advice actually. Following the success of her podcast, Anna Faris Is Unqualified, the actress puts some of her best lessons learned down on paper. And following the news of her separation from Chris Pratt, one can only wonder how her perspective (and advice) on love will change.

The Revolution of Marina M
by Janet Fitch
Available 11/7

The bestselling author of White Oleander and Paint It Black delivers a new take on the Russian Revolution as told through the eyes of a young woman of privilege who yearns for a life free of genteel constraints.

Heather, the Totality
by Matthew Weiner
Available 11/7

The creator of Mad Men and the upcoming Amazon series The Romanoffs offers up a brief but chilling novel about a privileged family and a young man who poses a threat to their urban bliss.

Artemis
by Andy Weir
Available 11/14

Weir, the author of The Martian, which was adapted into a Golden Globe-winning comedy starring Matt Damon, is back in space with a new near-future thriller about the first and only city on Earth’s moon.